News about Luke Donald

Unearthed ticket prices for the 2025 Ryder Cup in New York have golf fans seeing red on social media.  The biennial showdown between Team USA and Europe is heading to Bethpage Black where the local New York sports fans are expected to bring an incredibly raucous atmosphere to one of the greatest and fiercest spectacles in golf.  But those passionate spectators may have already been priced out of the Big Apple bust-up. 

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Luke Donald has slipped into a grin. We've mostly been looking ahead 12 months, to when he will visit a bearpit, but a memory has returned to him from this time last year. Naturally, he's thinking back to the Ryder Cup and Rome when the golfers of the United States were added to the collection of local ruins. There are plenty of chips, putts, hats and a scrap that hold fond places in his mind, but this recollection of a victorious captaincy goes to the eve of competition and Europe's team hotel. At the heart of it is a burly waiter with large hair.

Former Ryder Cup captain and DP World Tour player Brain Huggett has died aged 87. His daughter Sandra shared the heartbreaking news on the social media platform X. In the post she wrote: 'My darling Dad passed away at 1am this morning. 

The Spaniard had confirmed earlier in the day that he is willing to cram three European-based events into his schedule across the next six weeks in order to satisfy eligibility criteria for the match against the United States next September. But he also reiterated his refusal to pay the fines accrued for playing in conflicting events on the LIV circuit. Mail Sport understands they run deep into six figures. That bill has emerged as the key sticking point in a dramatic stand-off, because the DP World Tour say if he does not settle up, or even formally appeal against the sanctions, Rahm will not be allowed to play the events he needs to hit his quota for Cup qualification.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Two years after losing at the European Masters in a play-off, Matt Wallace prevailed on the first extra hole to win the same tournament on Sunday. In claiming his first DP World Tour title in six years, he will have also caught Luke Donald's attention.  The Englishman's early marker for a maiden Ryder Cup appearance came in dramatic circumstances, with his four-stroke lead disappearing on the final day in Switzerland before he returned to the 18th hole for a showdown with Alfredo Garcia-Heredia.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Two years after losing at the European Masters in a play-off, Matt Wallace prevailed on the first extra hole to win the same tournament on Sunday. In claiming his first DP World Tour title in six years, he will have also caught Luke Donald's attention. The Englishman's early marker for a maiden Ryder Cup appearance was laid down in dramatic circumstances, with his four-stroke lead disappearing on the final day in Switzerland before he returned to the 18th hole for a showdown with Alfredo Garcia-Heredia. Wallace nailed an eight-foot birdie putt to beat the Spaniard. That prompted him to break down in tears, which offered a window to the frustrations that have accumulated since Wallace's three-win breakthrough season in 2018.

European LIV Golf stars have been dealt a bitter blow as a new set of Ryder Cup qualification rules were unveiled. As part of the new guidelines, a qualification list will be compiled based on players' performances on the US-based PGA Tour and the European-based DP World Tour. Players can earn 3,000 qualifying points from the PGA Tour's 'Signature Events' along with The Players Championship and season-ending FedEx Cup playoffs, with the majors carrying 5,000 qualifying points.

Michael Jordan is kicking back and relaxing on a romantic vacation in Ibiza with his model wife Yvette Prieto this summer. Jordan and Prieto, who have been married for the last 11 years, were spotted heading out on a speed boat over the weekend as the loved-up couple enjoy some down time on the Spanish island. The dapper NBA legend donned a white bucket hat and matching t-shirt with light green and white patterned swim shorts on the boat ride, while also puffing on one of his signature cigars.

Davis Riley used his winner's speech at the Charles Schwab Challenge to pay tribute to tragic PGA Tour star Grayson Murray, on a 'super sad day in the golf world.' Murray was competing in the same event, playing on Thursday and Friday, before tragically ending his own life on Saturday morning, as confirmed by his parents in a heart-wrenching statement. Riley went on to win the event in Texas - his first victory on the PGA Tour - and he used his time with the microphone to pay tribute to Murray on an emotional day. 

Golfer Grayson Murray died by suicide, his parents have revealed in a statement. 'Life wasn't always easy for Grayson, and although he took his own life, we know he rests peacefully now,' read a statement from his parents released by the PGA on Sunday. 'We have spent the last 24 hours trying to come to terms with the fact that our son is gone. It's surreal that we not only have to admit it to ourselves, but that we also have to acknowledge it to the world. It's a nightmare.'

Golfer Peter Malnati was brought to tears on Saturday while discussing Grayson Murray's sudden passing after playing the first two rounds with his late rival at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Forth Worth. 'Losing him is really hard,' the overwhelmed Malnati told CBS Sports. 'I didn't even know Grayson all that well, but I spent the last two days with him. And we get so worked up about a bad break here or a good break there…' Malnati trailed off at that point as he began to cry.

Grayson Murray, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, has died at the age of 30. The American's passing was announced by the PGA Tour on Saturday - 24 hours after he withdrew towards the end of his second round the Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas. He had told his playing partners he was feeling unwell.  No cause of death has been issued, with commissioner Jay Monahan left 'lost for words'.

Some of the biggest names in golf have taken to social media to pay tribute to Grayson Murray after the sudden passing of the 30-year-old. The PGA Tour announced the sad death of the American on Saturday, 24 hours after he withdrew towards the end of his second round the Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas. Murray told his playing partners at the time he wasn't feeling well, but no cause of death has been confirmed. The world number 58 leaves behind his fiancee, Christiana. The couple was reportedly due to marry in the spring of 2024. Upon the sad news breaking several golfers have taken to X to pay their tributes to Murray, including Luke Donald, Bubba Watson and Damon Hack.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI AT VALHALLA: The strangest week of Scottie Scheffler's career culminated with a day that provoked thoughts of what might have been. While nothing in his placid existence is ever likely to match the sight of him being led away in handcuffs, it was none the less surreal to see him climb so close to the top of the leaderboard here on Sunday night. By the time he wrapped up his final round at the US PGA Championship, recording a brilliant 65 for a 13 under par tally, he was sitting in the top 10. 

Ryder Cup-winning captain Luke Donald has announced his vice-captain for next year's Ryder Cup showdown at Bethpage Black in the United States. Donald led his European side in Rome last year in a memorable triumph and is reprising his role to attempt to back it up in enemy territory.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI AT AUGUSTA NATIONAL: Luke Donald will undertake a reconnaissance mission to the 2025 Ryder Cup venue in New York next month. At a time when the PGA of America is yet to finalise who will even lead their team, with Tiger Woods mulling over the US captaincy, European preparations are gaining pace. Mail Sport understands that will include Donald's trip to Bethpage Black in May to monitor alterations being made to the notoriously brutal course.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: It's remarkable that Tommy Fleetwood's reputation has been tied so closely to two of golf's most recurring thoughts. Both play to the same question: who is the next man up? We may have asked it simply in the context of who will break their duck in the majors one day. However, these days, it is also looking at the current drama of LIV and the next batch of targets. Fleetwood has naturally been mentioned in each of those conversations; a golfer on the verge of crashing through and a golfer too strong not to invite bids from a promising start-up circuit; and a golfer who is not well-known not to receive offers from an exciting start-up circuit.

Wyndham Clark, the reigning US Open champion, was embroiled in a cheating scandal during the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Saturday. Clark, who won the US Open last summer at Los Angeles Country Club, trails overnight leaders Scottie Scheffler and Shane Lowry by a shot going into the final round, but the distance could have been larger. Clark was seen pressing his team back for the ball while setting his shot up from the heavy rough on Bay Hill's 18th birthday, causing it to possibly move, even on the broadcast. Following the round, the television replays suggested that the ball may have migrated but that authorities review it in the scoring area and found that Clark should not be punished.

Golfers must commit to the game from an early age, forgoing childhood pleasures in the search of a dream to make it to the top. That deal, unfortunately, is unfulfilled for the most part. Only a select few make it to the elite level of the game, whether due to injury, appearance, or simply bad luck. That's why it's so rare to see some of the early images of the stars of today's day, who have managed to defyse and, in even rarer cases, win the major awards of the sport.

ISABEL BALDWIN AT MAYAKOBA, MEXICO: After Legion XIII, the Roman Empire unit that crossed the Rubicon under Julius Caesar, Jon Rahm named his LIV Golf team. Rahm crossed his own Rubicon on Friday, making it a fitting name. As soon as the Masters champion teed it up in Mayakoba on Friday, he began his life on LIV's side of the civil war, with no return to the PGA Tour allowed. Rahm, 29, had admitted that his $500 million LIV Golf defection was a'significant risk to take' ahead of his debut in Mexico earlier this week. On Friday, the gamble seemed to have paid off. With LIV, the Spaniard got off to a slew of holes, securing both his and the breakaway's big money moves within a single hole.

When the fly-on-the-wall docuseries returns next month, golf legends Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas are among the golf superstars set to appear in the second season of Full Swing. Fans are taken on a journey with some of golf's most well-known players. With the introduction of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, one season one was embedded in the sport as it fractured. Now, Netflix has announced that season two will premiere on March 6, with a cast of well-known celebrities set to appear.

Tyrrell Hatton's ride to the LIV circuit will be rubber-stamped imminently, causing a new headache for European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald. Hatton, who revealed earlier this month that he had held discussions with LIV, is expected to be included in the field for their season-opener in Mexico, which starts on Friday. It will be another blow to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, as well as a further complicatation for Donald on the back of Jon Rahm's departure in December.

Hatton, a member of the 2023 Ryder Cup-winning Team Europe, is now heading to the rebel circuit, while teammate Jon Rahm is expected to follow him. The Englishman, who was ranked No. 16 in the top 50, is said to have turned down previous bids from Greg Norman's breakaway over reluctance to risk dropping out of the top 50 and missing out on qualifying for the majors. According to The Telegraph, an improved bid has turned Hatton's head, with the 32-year-old now deciding to join Rahm's new team.

Hatton, a member of the 2023 Ryder Cup-winning Team Europe, is reportedly to follow his colleague Jon Rahm to the rebel circuit, according to rumors. The Englishman, who has been ranked No. 16 in the top 50, is said to have turned down previous offers from Greg Norman's breakaway over reluctance to risk losing the top 50 and missing out on qualifying for the majors. However, a new bid may have turned Hatton's head, with the 32-year-old close to joining Rahm's new team. Meronk, who was named the DP World Tour player of the year by his peers just last week, has already signed up to LIV.